Our Team

The Adventures in Caring team includes one hundred volunteers, ages 16 to 86 who visit patients in hospitals and nursing homes, every week, all year round. Additionally, there are a board of directors, committee members, advisors, and auxiliary volunteers working behind the scenes to move the mission forward. With minimal staff, Adventures in Caring makes an impact far out of proportion to its size.

Under a volunteer’s Raggedy wig and makeup is a highly skilled listener with special training in how to interact with patients to promote healing, recovery, and emotional well-being. While Raggedy volunteers come from all walks of life, many of them are pre-med and pre-health profession students from University of California, Santa Barbara and other local colleges.

In a three-day training session provided by Adventures in Caring, these future doctors, dentists, nurses and health care practitioners learn how to communicate with the seriously ill, injured, and dying. They focus on the patient’s interests, allowing the patient be the center of their attention, and speak freely about what is on their mind or in their heart. The volunteers learn how to understand emotions of those who are suffering, and how to show appreciation for abilities rather than disabilities.